An Ethiopian community’s journey from darkness to light.

Hadero is a commercial district in Ethiopia where people love to shop and do business—especially on Saturdays. Catholic, Orthodox, Muslim, and Protestant exist here together, and there is a great need for a genuine revival of true godliness.

Since the 1990s, Seventh-day Adventists have tried to penetrate this area with the Three Angels’ Messages. However, it was not easy to establish a church and win converts when Sabbath-keeping obviously interfered with the busiest market day of the week. Many gospel workers dedicated years of service to plant a church without much success. Sadly, people would rather attend the market on Saturday than go to church.

Four years ago, this difficult area received the Adventist message more positively. Pastor Cody Francis and Daniel Shamebo Sabore conducted an evangelistic series at Donga-Tunto, five kilometers away from Hadero. This effort produced 80 converts, and souls have been flocking to the newly planted church every Sabbath since.

While carrying on our gospel project was not easy in a place considered impossible, we claimed God’s promises. We saw miracles happen as the Holy Spirit worked with us to establish the new members in the faith. If only the early missionaries to Hadero could see the church here! It is a wonderful answer to many years of evangelism and prayer. Seventh-day Adventists in the area praise and honor God for all His wonderful deeds.

Challenges remain for Hadero’s Adventist church. They need a larger building to accommodate their growing attendance. They have no musical instruments other than their voices to praise God, and no school to encourage their young people to grow up in the Adventist faith.

The town leadership actually anticipates seeing an Adventist school in the area. They have promised to provide us with land to build on, and even though we don’t have the resources on hand to complete the project, we plan to step forward in faith.

Adventist members also feel the need for a church school. In the town of Hadero there are no schools to provide students with a well-rounded education. Sadly secular schools here do not benefit the children academically, physically or morally. Our hope is that through mentoring the young people of Hadero, we will reach both them and their parents with the gospel message. If God places it on your heart to donate, please consider investing in our young people. The Lord is not finished in Hadero—the “impossible town.”

Location
Ethiopia

Author
Tesfaye Tadese Hailegnaw is the director of the work in Southern Ethiopia.

How You Can Help
Pray for Tesfaye as he organizes the work in the southern part of Ethiopia. 

Pray for the gospel work in Hadero.  

Give. You can support the work by sending your donations marked “Ethiopia” to: 

Mission Projects International 
PO Box 151 
Inchelium, WA 99138

For online options, visit: missionspro.org/donate.

Mission Projects International’s Ethiopian Program in the USA is coordinated by Daniel Shamebo Sabore in Federal Way WA, USA. He can be reached at 253-835-0107 or info [at] advancedtranslationservices [dot] com.